Do you know the best feature of iPhone X? The Rs 1.02 lakh price tag

From November 3, Apple will be selling top model of iPhone X, a special tenth anniversary edition, in India for Rs 1.02 lakh—and lots of Indians would make a beeline for it.

Why has no one dared ask if iPhone X is overpriced? The simple reason is that the Rs 1.02 lakh price tag is not the value of the phone but its most prized feature. Indians would be buying the phone more for this feature than the others publicised widely, such as wireless charging.

The use value of iPhone may be much less but it is the symbolic value that matters. The price above Rs 1 lakh is a clear signal of class for lots of Indians. More than a mere smartphone, iPhone has become an accessory as important as a piece of jewellery or a luxury watch. There is no other logic behind Apple launching such an expensive phone in India and hoping to attract a lot of buyers.

iPhone did not stand much chance in a price-sensitive market such as India. That's why initially Apple did not count on India. But slowly Apple has started making inroads. The reason? iPhone has emerged as a primary class marker. After car, smartphone is the biggest status symbol, and iPhone leads in that role. A big section of rich Indians has turned into Apple devotees who would upgrade their phone with every launch—not just because of new features but also as an easy and instant marker of their class.

iPhone's prospects in India are growing not due to the rich customers but a very large and emerging aspirational class of those who are no-so-rich but have significant disposable income. For this aspirational class which is growing by the day, iPhone's out-of-reach pricing is an attractive feature that gets upgraded every year.

That reflects in Apple's zooming sales in India. iPhone sales in India surged more than 50% in the year ended September 2016, when the smartphone maker reported its first annual sales and profit decline in 15 years. Apple shipped a record 2.5 million iPhones in India from October 2015 to September 2016, up 56% on year, according to an estimate by Counterpoint Technology Market Research. In quarter ended March 2017, Apple's revenue grew over 20% in India even as it saw a slump in iPhone sales globally.

Growing appeal of iPhone in India has made Apple recognise the huge growth potential. Apple has begun to take India seriously. It has offered discounts, buybacks and EMI schemes on all its phones. It has launched a new 'Assembled in India' iPhone SE.

India's growing aspirational class holds a lot of potential for Apple which has just a 3% market share in India's smartphone market.

Sponsored Stories

Subscribe to our Newsletters

Huawei’s India smartphone business is set for a massive impact as Alphabet Inc's Google decides to suspend business with the world’s second-largest handset maker after the Trump administration added Huawei to a trade blacklist.

The latest contract follows another multi-year network modernization and expansion contract from Vodafone Idea. Under the wireless deal, Ericsson is already deploying 5G-ready wireless equipment on Vodafone Idea network in eight of its 22 circles in India.